Hi all,

I have a low wing trainer that I converted to a tail dragger and used the real thick Dubro fiberglass landing gear for the front. I want to put wheel pants on it just because it looks great like that. I am worried that during harder landing, which I still occasionally do, it might be a real pain in the back side. Also being new at this I imagine it is going to really change the trim and how it fly’s huh? So what do you think wheel pants or no wheel pants that is the question?????

Thanks
Joey V.

I notice almost no difference in flying between wheel paints and no wheel paints. The only time i don't like it is when it is a 3d plane when i need the lighter wing loading

The only problem I have ever had with wheel pants are on smaller wheels, say 2-1/2" or smaller and flying off grass, The wheel pants tend to drag in the grass and either try to cause the plane to nose over or slow the plane down so that it either takes most of the runway to take off or I end up aborting the take off all together. In these cases I take the wheel pants off and fly without them.
By my calculations if I have 1-1/2" of exposed tire under under the wheel pants I am ok. anything less and forget it.

wheel pants and grass fields do not go well together

yeah i have a plane that came with wheel pants but when i made the first landing on grass they got broke off and it was a smooth landing. being a beginner i wouldn't reccommend it. i have also hd a plane with them and got damaged on take off and one came off and hit my tail. that made things interesting.

It's a personal preference thing, but I see wheeelpants as one more thing to break. On my planes they're good for maybe half a dozen flights, and if I'm lucky they depart the aircraft without taking parts of the airframe with them. They do look good, though.

well once you get better at landings assuming you aren't flyin off grass put em on.... if on grass don't bother

What do pants really do? Is it something to do with wind resistance? Im guessing this, because I see no other reason than looks, and they have that sweet aerodynamic look. But i dont know

They cut down on wind resistance on the wheels on full scale aircraft.
Of course our models try to look like there full scale counterparts.
Aside from competition flying , where you squeeze every ounce of performance from the plane, I don't think they make too much difference on a model aside from looks.
I have several models that I have flown with and without and couldn't notice any difference.

Sometimes when flying off grass the wheel pants will come flying through the wing. [X(]

i only use them when i take off from a paved runway,otherwise you will tear them off or worse on grass.and i agree i havent seen much of a difference in the way my airplanes fly except for it makes for a neat look.

I agree with Aerowoof - wheel pants and grass fields is a marriage made in hell.

I've had better luck with my wheel pants. I just CA'd a piece of plywood on the inside of the pant where it mounts to the gear. No cracks, and it still looks new. Grass fields do not pose a problem with my 2 1/2" wheels.

For grass runways I would not recommend ANY wheels less than 2 1/2" diameter (3"+ is better ). That said, as long as your wheel pants are PROPERLY secured you should have no problems.

I fly from a grass field with wheelpants all the time. However I do have them properly secured. How I secure my wheelpants is as follows:

1. I use a wheelpant bracket (SIG and others make some good ones ).

2. Once I have determined the angle of the pants I grind a flat spot on the axle for the set/lock bolt (SIG does not have the set/lock bolt contact the axle. For them I use a SMALL DROP of 5 minute epoxyto secure the bracket to the axle).

3. I use a drop of blue locktite on the set/lock screw.

4. I also use DuBro nylon landing gear brackets (the nylon ones with the "hump" in them ) to secure the leg of the landing gear to the wheelpants.

5. If the wheelpants you are using do not have a ply backing inside the pants, add a 1/8" lite ply backing to the inside. Make sure the backing is wide enough AND high enough to bolt the wheelpant bracket to and fasten the landing gear strap to.

The reason you guys are having trouble on grass with wheel pants is simple. You have no support on the outer side off the pant. Here's what I do:

1) Rough up the inside of the pant, and polyurethane 1/8 AIRCRAFT ply on the inside (postage stamp size). When that is cured, 3/4 fiberglass and epoxy resin the area slightly larger than the wood you inserted.

2) mount the pant

3) leave the axle long enough so when the pant is screwed on to the gear, it just touches the outer edge of the pant.

4) get another postage stamp size piece of 1/8 or thicker plywood. drill a hole through the center, the same size as your axle. Using the same method in step #1, attach this piece to the outer side of the pant, making sure the pant is mounted and centered

You now have complete support through the whole pant, giving it tremendous strength. I have models with pants that have over 150 flights on them, and the pants are as good as new, except for maybe some paint rubbing off. Our field is smooth grass, but i have eeven flown in rough pastures with no problems.

I have heard some people claim that wheelpants helps you see the airplane's orientation better in the air. Performance wise, you probably won't notice the difference unless you are someone who actually has onboard instruments that measure your plane's airspeed and the rest of the plane is already as aerodynamically clean as you can make it. Exposed cylinder heads, mufflers out in the airstream, servos sticking out of the side of our fusilages and wing bottoms, and we worry about the air drag of our landing gear!![&o]

Heyyyyyyyyy Looks whos back!!! Where you been hiding?

It's definitely love-hate with wheel pants. Some scale planes look naked without them, such as most Waco's, and I'll just deal with the problems (read: make lots of repairs and touch-ups) in order to maintain that look. Otherwise, I'll leave them off. I find that the bigger the plane, the less problems there are, mainly because the wheels are larger, clearance between the pant and grass is greater, and the pant itself is usually more robustly made. It was odd to see this thread first thing when I signed on, because fixing wheel pants was just what I was doing in the shop 15 minutes ago, I got on-line while the epoxy was setting.

For me it's a no-brainer. Wheel pants are just another piece of gingerbread to go wrong. When I go to the field I want to fly, not futz with stuff. I vote no wheel pants.

there are different types of greass fields some are nicely manicured and the grass is kept fairly short,then there are grass fields that are sod farns that we are allowed to fly on but the grass is not allowed to be cut shorter than 2 1/2 inches.when first flying off this field it was apparrent that either more power or larger wheels would be needed but with a width of 200 yards and a length of 1/2 mile it is free of obstacles.

There is a third type,
Our field is more weeds than grass and some of the straggly weeds can grow a couple of inches overnight.

Wheel pants make a huge difference aesthetically. I fly on a grass field and I'm a fairly new pilot. If you choose to use pants, be sure to reinforce the entire inside of the pants with fiberglass and epoxy.

I've also seen pants in which the axle comes all the way through both sides of the pants. Doesn't look quite as clean, but should get you more strength.

On my second or third landing, I came in pretty hard and the pants cracked right along the lines where the plywood reinforcement was epoxied to the wheel pants. The pants stayed on and still look good, but I'm anticipating the next hard landing could finish them off.

Also, the pants will probably slow you down on takeoff more than going pantless in high grass.

nothing like going pantless in the high grass

I'll toss in another "leave them off for grass-field operations" vote. I have 3-1/2" wheels that I had used the fiberglass pants witch the model came with (a Kangle S/K 50). Those cracked and gave out in the first season. I installed a set of more flexible plastic pants. Those held up better . . . until last year. I was having a heck of a time getting airborne. I figured I had bad fuel, but the engine ran fine on the ground and the tach showed full RPM. But still I could not get off the ground! I was baffled. Turns out the pants had cracked at the attachment points along the line where the l.g. struts meet the pants. As the grass hit the fronts they bent in - acting like friction brakes on the wheels.

They're gone now.